St. Mary’s was established in 1847 and the first church was built the same year. The 24 x 40 feet church was located where our cemetery is now. The area was then called Stony Hill and the Redemptionist Fathers of Brooklyn sent Reverend Peter Hartlaub to say Sunday Mass.
As the area grew, a second larger church was built on the same site in 1877. The territory lines were re-drawn with surrounding towns, Watchung incorporated the area known as Stony Hill. The legal name of our church became St. Mary’s Church-Stony Hill.
In 1958 Fr. Platt came from Mount St. Mary Academy where he was the chaplain and said Mass at the old church, he was soon named pastor. A few years later the church bought a two-story colonial house on the corner of Mountain Boulevard and Brookdale Rd. Parishioners worked to renovate the house to become our rectory and chapel where daily Mass was celebrated. Soon, the garage was fixed so we could have additional room for parishioners to worship on Sunday. All funerals, Holy Communions, and Confirmations were held at neighboring churches.
We soon outgrew our “little garage church” and were given permission to have Sunday Mass and Religious Education classes at Valley View School. As the town and parish continued to grow at a rapid rate, Fr. Platt located land at the top of a nearby hill off Mountain Blvd in 1964 and the Bishop gave permission to build our church on that site. Following a long capital campaign and a loan from the Diocese, we were able to build St. Mary’s-Stony Hill Church on top of the mountain.
Construction was completed in 1971. Fr. Platt continued until his retirement in 1985. Fr. Tom Dzurenda was installed as pastor in 1985 and celebrated the parish’s 150-year anniversary in 1997. The current pastor of St. Mary’s-Stony Hill Church is Fr. Brian J. Nolan, who was installed as pastor in 2001.
In order to accommodate the growing needs of the parish that includes space for the Religious Education program, parish staff, and parish community meeting space - St. Mary’s-Stony Hill completed the construction of the 13,000 square foot Pope John Paul II Parish Center in September 2007.
Click here to read a more in-depth history of St. Mary's